Suchergebnisse

SUMMARY: This study investigates if the day of the week a person is admitted with a hip fracture influences the quality of care they receive. We found those admitted Thursday and Friday were likely to obtain poorer postoperative care, indicating a need to optimize services ensuring equality for all. PURPOSE: We sought to investigate how the day of admission affects the quality of care provided to hip fracture patients according to national standards (The Scottish Standards of Care for Hip Fracture Patients [SSCHFP]). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of national cohort data. Data were collected by the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit (SHFA) local audit co-ordinators (LACs) at participating Scottish hospitals on behalf of NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government. Adherence to the SSCHFP included assessment of both individual and cumulative standard attainment as a marker for quality of patient care. RESULTS: From January 2014 to April 2018, 15,351 admissions for hip fracture were recorded. Compared with Monday admission (reference day), patients admitted on a Thursday or Friday had a significantly lower likelihood of achieving the postoperative standards of prompt mobilization (OR 1.77; p < 0.001 & OR 1.48; p < 0.001, respectively); prompt physiotherapy assessment (OR 8.61; p < 0.001 & OR 3.47; p < 0.001, respectively); and prompt comprehensive geriatric assessment (OR 1.88; p < 0.001 & OR 1.41; p < 0.001, respectively). Patients admitted on a Friday or Saturday were less likely to receive the preoperative standards of no delay prior to theatre (OR 1.24; p = 0.001 & OR 1.23; p = 0.002, respectively) and avoidance of repeat fasting (OR 1.22; p = 0.009 & OR 1.22; p = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients admitted on Thursday or Friday were significantly more likely to not receive postoperative care standards than patients admitted on the reference day (Monday). This appears to be related to inequalities in service provision for Saturday and Sunday compared with the rest of the ...

We would like to give special thanks to Dr Carrie Stewart for her contribution in manuscript drafting. We gratefully acknowledge Ministry of Science and Technology, the Thai Royal Government Scholarship support towards AN and the study team was also supported by The Dunhill Medical Trust [grant number RPGF1806/66] funds towards PKM and YKL as part of the project entitled "An evidence synthesis suite to inform a future randomised trial of reducing anticholinergic related harm in older adults". The funders had no role in study design or interpretation of the results. ; Peer reviewed ; Postprint

Reliance on government-led policies have heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research on the policies associated with outcomes other than mortality rates remains warranted. We aimed to determine associations between government public health policies on the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. This ecological study including countries reporting ≥25 daily COVID-related deaths until end May 2020, utilised public data on policy indicators described by the Blavatnik school of Government. Associations between policy indicators and severity of the pandemic (mean mortality rate, time to peak, peak deaths per 100,000, cumulative deaths after peak per 100,000 and ratio of mean slope of the descending curve to mean slope of the ascending curve) were measured using Spearman rank-order tests. Analyses were stratified for age, income and region. Among 22 countries, containment policies such as school closures appeared effective in younger populations (r(s) = −0.620, p = 0.042) and debt/contract relief in older populations (r(s) = −0.743, p = 0.009) when assessing peak deaths per 100,000. In European countries, containment policies were generally associated with good outcomes. In non-European countries, school closures were associated with mostly good outcomes (r(s) = −0.757, p = 0.049 for mean mortality rate). In high-income countries, health system policies were generally effective, contrasting to low-income countries. Containment policies may be effective in younger populations or in high-income or European countries. Health system policies have been most effective in high-income countries.

The research leading to these results was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 305930 (SENATOR project). The sponsor did not play any role in the study design, methods, data collection and analysis, and preparation of the article. ; Peer reviewed ; Postprint

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the association between the duration and level of exposure to different classes of anticholinergic drugs and subsequent incident dementia. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: General practices in the UK contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. PARTICIPANTS: 40 770 patients aged 65-99 with a diagnosis of dementia between April 2006 and July 2015, and 283 933 controls without dementia. INTERVENTIONS: Daily defined doses of anticholinergic drugs coded using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale, in total and grouped by subclass, prescribed 4-20 years before a diagnosis of dementia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds ratios for incident dementia, adjusted for a range of demographic and health related covariates. RESULTS: 14 453 (35%) cases and 86 403 (30%) controls were prescribed at least one anticholinergic drug with an ACB score of 3 (definite anticholinergic activity) during the exposure period. The adjusted odds ratio for any anticholinergic drug with an ACB score of 3 was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.14). Dementia was associated with an increasing average ACB score. When considered by drug class, gastrointestinal drugs with an ACB score of 3 were not distinctively linked to dementia. The risk of dementia increased with greater exposure for antidepressant, urological, and antiparkinson drugs with an ACB score of 3. This result was also observed for exposure 15-20 years before a diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: A robust association between some classes of anticholinergic drugs and future dementia incidence was observed. This could be caused by a class specific effect, or by drugs being used for very early symptoms of dementia. Future research should examine anticholinergic drug classes as opposed to anticholinergic effects intrinsically or summing scales for anticholinergic exposure. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered to the European Union electronic Register of Post-Authorisation Studies EUPAS8705.